Expedia is positioning itself as the brand which can help fulfil travel dreams, like seeing the aurora borealis.
In the intergenerational hero spot, launching on Thursday (Feb. 1), a mom books a trip to Tromsø, Norway for her mother and daughter to see the popular bucket list entry, the northern lights. The advertisement’s voiceover intones, “you were meant to dream about it for years… we were made to help you book it in minutes.”
“Canada is a really important market for us,” says Expedia’s VP of brand marketing, Chandreyi Davis, who adds that getting into deeper insights and meaningful storytelling in a more contextual way is how it wants to better serve the Canadian traveler.
The idea behind aurora chasing is informed by Expedia insights that 71% of Canadians dream about such a trip, but haven’t yet taken it. Davis adds that according to meteorological sources, this year and 2025 are supposed to be some of the best times to see the northern lights in our lifetimes.
In 2021, Expedia repositioned itself to focus more on meaningful travel experiences, as Davis explained, exemplified in the tagline, “Made to Travel,” which was showcased during the 2022 Super Bowl. The campaign highlights the idea that people’s desire for wanderlust is innate.
Rather than going after a specific demographic, Davis explains the new campaign is trying to capture the mindset of any travel dreamer.
“We have a really strong awareness in the category and we are known to be travel experts,” Davis says, adding that as a brand it can connect emotional stories behind dream trips to helping people overcome travel obstacles.
The 30-second spot was created in-house by the Expedia creative team and will make its debut in Canada on February 11 during Super Bowl Sunday. The spot will then begin airing in the U.S, UK and Australia as of February 12.
The 360 effort includes activations, influencers and OOH. Expedia also handled the buy.
